Gender and household food security in Ghana: Assessing food security and dietary diversity among male-and female-headed cocoa households and its associated factors in the Juaboso-Bia landscape

Malnutrition is a wicked problem that affects every country in the globe, affecting one in three individuals, including Ghana. 690 million people were undernourished globally in 2019, according to estimates from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 50% of child mortality has been attributed to malnutrition. The study used mixed research methods to gather primary data to investigate dietary diversity distribution and food and nutrition security status among male and female-headed cocoa households and its associated factors. Through this study, it was revealed that 62.8% of the male-headed cocoa households had medium to high dietary diversity compared to their female counterpart 39.3%. Also, the male-headed cocoa households recalled eating legumes/nuts (13%) and milk products (18.5%) were consumed less, whereas female-headed cocoa households least consumed the following food groups: sugar/honey (17.5%), oil/fat/butter (17%), spices/tea/condiments (16.5%), eggs (12.5%), organic meat (8.5%), fruits (7.5%), legumes/nuts (7%), and milk product (4.5%). Moreover, the months that the male-headed households recalled facing severe food unavailability were in July, June, April, and May, however, for the female-headed households, the severe months were June, July, March, February, and January. Climate change/variability, unavailable lands, poverty, large household size, and gender stereotypes were factors promoting low dietary diversity among male and female-headed households. Furthermore, 91.7% of the male-headed households and 88.6% of the female-headed households shared that cocoa expansion affects crop diversification in the study area. This study recommends that the government should educate cocoa households on the utmost importance of eating balanced diets, and empower female-headed households.